Carlos Rábade, pulmonologist and coordinator of the Separ Smoking Area.
The Spanish Society of Pulmonology and Thoracic Surgery (Separ) warns that the cannabis is a drug that causes addiction, not innocuous, with the potential to causer damage to the body in the short and medium term, such as cancer and affectation of the cardiovascular, respiratory and central nervous systems, multiplying by five the risk of psychosis.
For this scientific Society it is “especially worrying” that teenagersa very vulnerable group, initiate recreational use of this drug and most likely the cannabis regulation smoked for therapeutic uses will increase the accessibility to acquire it and the social acceptance of this drugespecially among teenagers.
Separ makes this warning, on the occasion of the celebration of the World Day without Tobacco, which is celebrated every May 31, and before the possible legalization of cannabis for medicinal uses, which is being studied in the subcommission created in 2021 in the Congress of Deputies to analyze the experiences of other countries with the regulation of medicinal cannabis. Since last March 8, there have been appearances by 23 experts from different countries of the European Union, as well as medical, pharmaceutical and patient associations, and the subcommittee has met five times.
Now its members have until the end of June to agree on the conclusions and decide if cannabis is legalized for medicinal purposes and under what terms: what types of products can be prescribed, for which patients and for what ailments, among other aspects.
Cannabis, a risk to physical and mental health
“If cannabis is legalized, let us not forget that it is a drug, the accessibility to acquire it and its social acceptance will increase, putting in serious danger the physical and mental health of the population and, especially, of our adolescents”, highlighted Carlos Rábade, pulmonologist and coordinator of the Separ Smoking Area.
In fact, “in recent years, in our country, it has already been observed an increase in cannabis use and its derivatives, alone or combined with tobacco. In addition, messages from certain opinion groups regarding the harmlessness of this drug and its therapeutic uses do nothing more than normalize the behavior of consuming it, especially among the adolescent population”, adds Rabade.
Cannabis is a drug that generates addiction associated with serious harmful effects such as cardiac disorders, bronchopulmonary diseases, cancer and psychiatric diseases by increasing five times the risk of
develop psychosis.
In adolescents it is related to memory and learning disorders, as well as emotional disorders, increasing the possibility of developing depression in young people. Studies have shown lower performance
school in adolescent consumers of this drug. In addition, a significant percentage of those who try it end up developing dependency.
For this reason, the Separ Tobacco Area launches the followinge positioning regarding future regulation of medical cannabis:
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The consumption of this drug should not be trivialized, since it causes serious short-term and long-term damage to the respiratory system, cardiovascular and central nervous system.
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your possible therapeutic uses have nothing to do with the recreational use of this drug and should be restricted to a minimum percentage of the population that meets specific criteria.
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must avoid messages, both in the media and in opinion groups, regarding its safety and requesting its legalization, since they produce a normalization in its consumption, especially in the most vulnerable groups such as adolescents.
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